Скачать или смотреть Inside the Rwenzori Conflict, What is causing the Violence to flare up?

The conflict in Kasese and Bundibugyo districts has presented a huge challenge to government and resolving it is proving difficult.
The conflict which flared up in March has left at least 40 people dead and scores injured. Several interventions have not amounted to much. President Yoweri Museveni who is currently in the restive region has made two visits to the area in one month. The Rwenzori conflict seems steeped in a complex mix of tribal hegemony, the land question, cultural superiority and politics.
In the Special report, Sheila Nduhukire goes into the nitty gritty of a conflict that keeps recurring.

///////////////////

The conflict in the Rwenzori region has flared up again since the last crisis in June 2014 which was blamed on tribal clashes. The new conflict has so far claimed atleast 40 lives since March. And to understand this conflict, one needs to travel back into the 20th century. Then, the majority Bakonjo tribe in Kasese and the minority Bamba were integrated into Tooro Kingdom as a political manouvre by the British colonialists.

BYTE Mwebesa….So, it was like putting two strangers in one bed, but much more important also the Toro tended to discriminate other communities in terms of opportunities like scholarships.

But this changed in June 1963 when the Bakonjo and Bamba seceded to form Rwenzururu Kingdom. But even after getting an independent kingdom, the two communities just tolerated each other.
In later years, government approved the split of Kasese into smaller districts as was happening in other parts of the country. According to Mwambustya Ndebesa, a political historian at Makerere University, the decision to subdivide the district for political expedience fueled the tensions. But President Museveni disagrees, saying districts bring services closer to the people.

BYTE...The creation of districts every other day, has created ethnic tensions in the region. The predominant tribe like Bakonjo in Kasese do not want more districts to be created.

Kasese was reknown for copper production but the industry went into abeyance about 30 years ago although there are now efforts to revamp it. Copper was the major source of livelihood for many Kasese residents and since it’s no more, many people here are languishing in poverty. A peace and Conflict Dr. Arthur Bainomugisha argues that tension in the Rwenzoris will recur if many people don’t have a predictable source of income.

BYTE…Kilembe mines had attracted a lot of livelihood for the people. The economy

Kasese is predominantly occupied by the Bakonjo while the Bamba hold sway in Bundibugyo. But the boundaries of the Rwenzururu Kingdom and the Obudhingiya Bwa Bwamba Cultural Institution carved out of the Rwenzururu Kingdom overlap Kasese and Bundibugyo districts.

BYTE….There are people who pay their allegiance to the Rwenzururu King but live in Bundibugyo. It becomes difficult for them to pay allegiance.

Government has intervened in a bid to stem the conflict in Kasese and Bundibugyo. President Yoweri Museveni has ruled out a split of Kasese to give leeway to the so-called Yiira Republic that is envisage to also include the Bakonjo neighbouring DRC. But according to Ndebesa, Yiira Republic is a hoax used by Rwenzururu as bargaining power.

President Museveni who has made two visits to Kasese and Bundibugyo to pacify the region, promised to deploy more troops and met local cultural and political leaders. The latest meeting with political leaders, mainly from the opposition lasted three hours. Newly elected Kasese Municipality MP Centenary Robert Bwambale of the FDC who attended the meeting says the President urged leaders to emphasize development rather than Identity among the people.


The violence has been interpreted as a clash of the egos among different ethnic groups, inferiority complex coupled by marginalization of minority communities. Dr. Bainomugisha advises government to do a lot more to sensitize Ugandans on the role of cultural institutions to avert further clashes.

PTC